Hand lead line



July 1, 1950 BAILH HAND LEAD L Filed March 50 IN V EN TOR.

c 9? Ba Z7126 BY Q ffOR/VE Y Patented July 11, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HAND LEAD LINE George Bailhe, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application March 30, 1945, Serial No. 585,729

This invention relates to. improvements of hand lead lines as used for sounding the depth of the sea bottom and the like.

The art of taking soundings is as old as the ar of seafaring, and consequently developed deeprooted traditions, one of them being the use of what is known as a standard hand lead line. For the purpose of more clearing defining the present invention and its advantages over the standard hand lead line it is believed advisable to explain the organization and use of the latter. The standard hand lead line comprises a rope or the like to which are secured in a most varied manner, markers made of different materials and known as marks which indicate distances in fathoms. The points corresponding to whole fathoms between such marks are called the deeps. These deeps are not marked. The standard hand lead line has 9 marks and 11 deeps. The marks. are. arranged as follows:

2 fathom-s are indicated by two strips of leather.

3 fathoms are indicated by three-strips of leather.

5 fathoms are indicated by a white cotton rag.

7 fathoms are indicated by a red woolen rag.

l0 fathoms, by a piece of leather with. one round hole.

13 fathoms are marked the same as 3 fathoms.

15 fathoms are marked the same as 5 fathoms.

17 fathoms are marked the same as '7 fathoms.

20 fathoms, by a piece of leather with two round holes.

The use of the standard hand lead line depends upon memorizing the different marks, which may be either seen by light or felt during darkness. Only those seamen who know and memorize the marks are able to take the proper sounding. Consequently the use of the present standard hand lead line, with whichv all vessels must be equipped, is not only antiquated, but also most difiicult, since it may be entrusted to experienced seamen only. Thus the line is useless in the hands of non-seamen or inexperienced seamen.

The present invention is intended to facilitate the taking of soundings by means of a hand lead line by any one who is able to read.

One of the objects ofv the present invention is to provide a hand lead'line with permanent markers which are not affected by either water, whether salt or soft, oil, grease, alcohols, alkalies or any other media which :may deteriorate 4 Claims. (01. 33-1265) marks made. from leather, cotton or wool as used with the ancient standard hand lead lines.

A further object of the present invention is to employ line markers made from a flexible, practically indestructible plastic material, such as Vinylite, in the form of strips which are looped in the vicinity of their middle portion about the rope body of the lead line, and by which loops the markers are fastened to the rope at disances representing measures in fathoms, the body portions of the marker strips adjacent their looped middle portion extending sidewise from the rope.

A further object of this invention is to provide in combination with the rope of a hand lead line,

water impervious markers looped at their middle portion about either several strands or about the entire body of. the rope, and wherein the looped portions are held together by suitable fastening means, such as hollow rivets, and wherein the free ends of the markers are provided with indices denoting numerals indicative of fathoms, and wherein such indices are of the same plastic material from which the markers are made, and wherein the material of the indices is caused to penetrate into, fuse with and. become an integral part of the marker material and possesses the latters physical properties, such as being impervious to water and other substances, and wherein the color of the index material contrasts with that of the marker bodies.

A further object of this invention is to provide indices for the markers which not only are made from the same or similar plastic material as the markers themselves, .but also include a luminous substance, such as active radium salts, for the purposeof rendering the indicesvisible at dark, and to also differentiate them in color from the material of the markers.

A further object of this invention is to so connect the, markers with the rope of a lead line that they are rendered adjustable'relative to the latter. Thus the looped middle portion of the markers may engage, for instance, several strands of a multiple strand rope, while the free strand or strands overlap the loop, whereby a slight adjustment of the marker in respect to the rope may be effected when the length dimension of the rope changes. When a woven type rope is used, the looped portion of the marker is fastened thereto by riveting or stapling, such fastening means being preferably easily removable to allow for adjustment of the. markers.

. The foregoingandnumerous other important objects and. advantages of the present invention When the rope of the lead line is of the woven type, such as indicated in Fig. 2 at I8, it is impossible to separate the strands without afiectin the ropes serviceability, in which event it is preferred to secure loop H of the marker by means of a staple or clip l9, which latter is preferably so constructed as to permit its forcible removal without injury to the marker.

When the. ropes of lead lines undergo dimensional changes, such as lengthening through continuous use with heavy leads, it is required that the distances between the markers be checked and the markers moved to their correct positions.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan View of a marker strip; and Fig. 6 is an enlarged section taken on line 66 of Fig. 5.

Referring now to the figures, numeral In denotes a three-strand rope, to two strands of which are secured loops II of the several markers i2 and 13. The looped middle portions ll of the markers are held in their looped position byhollow rivets It or any other suitable means. I

In the arrangement shown in Figs. land 3 loops H engage two strands of rope l0 and may be bodily moved in respect to the rope by opening the strand in the manner shown in Fig. 3, and as indicated by the arrows on the marker.

Allof the markers, preferably in the shape of strips, are made of water-impervious, thin, flexible plastic material, such as Vinylite, and. which strips are of such quality that they are water-impervious and practically indestructible. As will be seen from Fig. 1, some of the markers, such as markers l2, are wider and longer, while marker I3 placed between markers I2 is shorter and narrower. longer markers are indices denoting numerals indicative of fathoms. These numerals are made of the same plastic material from which the strips are made, but preferably differ -in color from the latter. The plastic material intended for indices is dissolved in a solvent andin its liquid state is applied to the marker bodies. The liquid plastic penetrates into the marker material and fuses and combines therewith to form integral parts of the markers. This penetration and integration of the dissolved plastic material into the bodies of the strips is clearly shown-in somewhat exaggerated iorm in Fig. 6, wherein the representation of numeral 7, denoted at I5, is imbedded within the material of strip I2.

When it is desired to provide luminosity for the indices, an active radium salt is mixed with the solvent-dissolved plastic material which is then applied to the bodies of the markers as clearly shown in Fig. 4. In this figure a cross section through numeral "0 is indicated at 16 penetrating into the body of the material of marker 12. The modification shown in Fig. 4 involves the cutting-out of numeral 0 from a plastic sheet, superimposing that numeral over another plastic sheet and impressing the numeral under the influence of heat into that other plastic sheet, whereby the material of the numeral becomes imbedded in and fused with the mate-' rial of that other plastic sheet. In addition to the penetration of the dissolved plastic containing luminous matter, a transparent coating 11 of the same'plastic is superimposed over the numeral, and that transparent covering is fused with the numeral and marker material. Because of its luminosity the index on the marker is rendered visible in darkness.

At both ends of the wider and In stranded ropes the positional changes of the markers may be readily made as indicated in Fig. 3. With woven ropes, staples [9 or their equivalents'must be removed and the markers reattached in their correct position in relation to each other.

The wider and longer markers are intended to denote fathoms and are preferably made in a color difierent from the indices Thus, for instance, the markers may be red, while the indices are white or yellow, or the markers may be made of white material whereas the indices may be red. The short, blank marker 13 shown in Fig. 1 between the markers for [5 and I! fathoms is preferably made of a constrasting color, such as yellow, and is intended to denote the mid-point between the 15 and 1'7 fathom markers, thus indicating l6 fathoms'. M It is intended to place similar small markers between each two fathom markers along the entire length'of the line.

The advantages of the use of lead lines provided with indices-bearing markers which may be read by any one in daylight and darkness is quite obvious, as is also the advantage ofusing markers which will not deteriorate in water and which are not afiected by oils, grease, alkalines or heat or cold. I

It is to be noted that all markers, due to their attachment to the rope by way of their looped middle portion, have two indices-bearing strip parts of substantially an equal length, and which strip parts extend substantially at right angles from the rope.

The foregoingdescription of the illustrations defines the present invention as markers made of water-impervious plastic material. While the construction of the markers is defined as being in the form of strips which are looped at the middle and riveted together to retain their loop formation, not only may their shapes be altered, but variations and changes may be required to meet different conditions, for which reason the present invention is not to be limited to the actual showing and the rights to changes and improvements of the device are hereby implied without departing from the scope of the .present invention, as defined in the annexed claims:

I claim:

1. In a hand lead line, a depth marker therefor made of water-impervious plastic material, such as Vinylite, and comprisin an elongated stripatboth ends of which identical indices are provided, said indices being of the same plastic material from which the strip is made and penetrating into and forming integral parts of the strip material, substantially the central area of the strip forming a loop for engaging the lead line, and means for keeping the strip in its looped and line-engaging position.

2. A depth marker for-hand lead lines comprising an elongated, flexible strip of water-im pervious plastic material having at'both its ends identical indices of the same material from which the strip is made, the material of the indices being fused with and penetrating into the strip material to form integral parts thereof, the coloring of the indices contrasting with that of the strip.

3. In a hand lead line, the combination with the line rope or the like, of a plurality of indicesbearing depth markers secured at spaced points to said rope, a plurality of blank depth markers arranged between said indices-bearing markers, all of the markers comprising strips of waterimpervious material formed at substantially their middle portion into rope-engaging loops held in their looped position by fastening means, said indices-bearing markers having at both of their free ends identical indices in the form of numerals indicating fathoms, said indices being of the same water-impervious material fromwhich the strips are made and penetrating into and forming integral parts of the strip material, but

being of a different color, the blank depth markers, being smaller and shorter than the indices-bearing markers, and indicative of the midway measure between two indices-bearing markers.

4. A hand lead line comprising a line body and a plurality of plastic, water-impervious, colored depth markers adjustably associated with the-line body, some of the markers bearing indices in-the 6 form 01' numbers denoting measurements in fathoms, other similar blank markers of a smaller size and of a different color than that of the numbered markers disposed midway between the latter, the indices of the numbered markers contrasting in color with that of the marker bodies but being of the same plastic from which the markers are made and forming integral parts thereof.

GEORGE BAlLHE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 13,994 Pecoul Dec. 25, 1855 182,356 Chesterman Sept. 19, 1876 773,016 Keufiel Oct. 25, 1904 1,216,953 Creagh-Osborne et a1.

Feb. 20, 1917 1,241,302 Taylor Sept. 25, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 16,803 Great Britain July 18, 1912 301,086 Italy Sept. 26, 1932 

